Joe David is one of the most skilled and accomplished carvers on the Northwest Coast, having played a major role in the revitalization of customary Nuu-chah-nulth art. David hails from the cohort of Northwest Coast Indigenous artists that included Bill Reid (Haida), Robert Davidson (Haida), Nathan Jackson (Tlingit), and Jack Hudson (Tsimshian), who began studying historic objects in the 1960s with non-Indigenous artist and scholar Bill Holm to reconstruct 19th century formal artistic styles. As a result of these relationships and his lifelong commitment to study old works, David is a master in the visual lexicon of several Northwest Coast First Nations. Always exploring new media and techniques, David’s work often takes on political or humourous topics as he incorporates subjects from pop culture and current events into his pieces.

This large-scale mask, titled Whalers Moon , is composed of a central humanoid Moon face with a large corona featuring two painted pairs of Whales and Thunderbirds encircling it. The dynamic corona, which spins 360 degrees and is wrapped in cedar bark rope, adds a dramatic flourish to the piece that harkens back to 19th century mask-making and the theatrical engineering of masks used in feast dancing [1]. The Thunderbird and Whale being depicted together is a classic Nuu-chah-nulth image and they are both rendered in customary Nuu-chah-nulth two-dimensional style. While the subject matter and design of the corona are deeply embedded in Nuu-chah-nulth culture, the Moon mask itself reflects more Northern elements in the execution of the face, highlighting David’s ability to blend multiple influences and showcasing his broad artistic skillset that spans across regions.

1. See lot 42, this sale.

Christopher W. Smith